is painting wifes house against immigration rules?

[Khon Kaen Dave]

Hi,my wife(legal) has a house that is quite new.The builder however has constructed a low wall on the frontage.It also contains the sliding gate that closes off the property.The builder put up a slat type fence on top of the wall.At first, looking at the fence,it would appear to be wooden slats.They are, in fact,some sort of poured cement.The work is shabby and the paint job is badly done leaving over paint all over the wall and the slat work.I want to repaint the fence but i am not sure whether this would contravene any of the 'work law's' in this country.

please,any advice on this subject would be greatly appreciated.

KKD

[Singerman]

Strictly speaking you would be working illegally.

It really depends on your neighbors/others who may take pleasure from reporting someone for illegally working.

edit

removal of typo

Edited December 29, 2015 by Singerman

[casualbiker]

Just paint it

[Khon Kaen Dave]

Thank's for the advice,most of the surrounding houses are owned by her family.I am the only ferang in the village and i am aware of a certain amount of jealousy towards her.Its just so frustrating having to look at this'get out quick job' She did contact the guy,who,of course,said he would come back but you already know the answer to that one.

Thanks anyway Singerman.

[Eclipse]

You would more than likely be ok.

Just depends if anyone has a big enough grudge.

[chrisinth]

I'm in the middle of painting our fence (prep work already done) at the minute up here in Phits.

Would be interesting if I got nicked for it.

I think technically it is against the literal law but as with digital nomads, I think it falls into a grey area.

[cooked]

Depends... all the village, including the boss lady knows that I help the SIL in the rice fields and at harvest time, and that I am slooowly building an extension and garden wall. Boss lady just across the road, another official next door, Oberthor visits for a beer regularly.

My use of a chainsaw without a license is no problem as I have helped out in a few clearances.

As I say, it depends. I didn't ask, I just did it.

[Rogermoore]

Well if you can't paint your wife house then why would you want to live here ? They can have the place.

[robblok]

I'm in the middle of painting our fence (prep work already done) at the minute up here in Phits.

Would be interesting if I got nicked for it.

I think technically it is against the literal law but as with digital nomads, I think it falls into a grey area.

True but digital nomads are not out in the open, you painting the fence are out in the open for all to see.

I have painted my fence and house.. and had my dad DIY a lot in the house so there could have been problems. But to be honest there never were.

I seem to recall that you can even build your own boat (Phuket immigration said something like that) as long as your not constantly selling them (boats)

[Singerman]

I'm in the middle of painting our fence (prep work already done) at the minute up here in Phits.

Would be interesting if I got nicked for it.

I think technically it is against the literal law but as with digital nomads, I think it falls into a grey area.

True but digital nomads are not out in the open, you painting the fence are out in the open for all to see.

I have painted my fence and house.. and had my dad DIY a lot in the house so there could have been problems. But to be honest there never were.

I seem to recall that you can even build your own boat (Phuket immigration said something like that) as long as your not constantly selling them (boats)

The "boat builders" were arrested!

http://www.phuketgazette.net/phuket-news/Phuket-Immigration-cracks-down-on-yachting-marine-industry/22294

[swissie]

Play it safe brother. Let the wife paint the house, while you swing in the hammock and give instructions.

As a rule: Whatever a Thai citizen can do, a Farang is not allowed to do.

Keeping this in mind, any Thai would be capable of having sexual intercourse with your wife/GF. A Farang doing this, is basically taking away a job from a Thai citizen. Yes Sir !

Cheers.

[robblok]

I'm in the middle of painting our fence (prep work already done) at the minute up here in Phits.

Would be interesting if I got nicked for it.

I think technically it is against the literal law but as with digital nomads, I think it falls into a grey area.

True but digital nomads are not out in the open, you painting the fence are out in the open for all to see.

I have painted my fence and house.. and had my dad DIY a lot in the house so there could have been problems. But to be honest there never were.

I seem to recall that you can even build your own boat (Phuket immigration said something like that) as long as your not constantly selling them (boats)

The "boat builders" were arrested!

http://www.phuketgazette.net/phuket-news/Phuket-Immigration-cracks-down-on-yachting-marine-industry/22294

Those who were building and selling boats, not those who made a boat for themselves. It was in the newspaper too that they made a distinction between the two. Seems quite clear to me if you keep on building and selling boats you can get caught as then its not for yourself.

[mcfish]

How come you paid the balance if they did a shity job?

Sent from my SC-01D using Tapatalk

[Gsxrnz]

I remember reading somewhere that it's OK to do R&M on your place of abode, owned or rented. Otherwise strictly speaking, changing a light bulb or boiling an egg would constitute "work".

[cooked]

Come on guys, its against the law to drive a motorised vehicle or buffalo cart for a Farang. TIT.

[spidermike007]

Always be willing to break laws that are ridiculous and nonsensical. We owe that ti society. Some laws are made to be broken. You are not getting paid. It is in your family. Come on.

[lonewolf99]

You have to got to hand it to them - locals I mean. They really have got this madness sewn up.

I can draw and paint. But if I sat down and painted a sunset on the beach and some one bought it from me I would be jailed/deported/hung/drawn/quartered etc.

If I lived anywhere else on the real planet known as Earth. I could possibly make a living from it and no one would bat an eyelid.

I can re-wire a house to a standard that far excells anything one of the locals do and you would not die switching on the shower.

This "law" is so extreme it basically contravenes every human right. The right to make money and feed yourself with daily bread.

Is this country a member of the United Nations? Probably not. Why? because the last thing they would want is being like the rest of Earth and doing anything being told by some who knows far better. Loss of face.

They signed up to to all sort of things in ASEAN and then just say screw you when Singaporeans and Fillipinos turn up looking for a job or business. So, don't feel victimised if you are a westerner they do it to asians as well.

I was talking to a Japanese engineer the other day who works in a plastic moulding factory and I cannot type here what he thought of the system or their methods he has to deal with or I would be arrested ...back to the OP ... dont paint the fence or the locals will take it....offence that is.

Notice I avoided mentioning what country we are talking about...?

[flyDelight]

Just paint it and drop some empty beer cans around there to make clear that you doing this for FUN not for work. That is what I would probably do.

[PattayaPhom]

Well if you can't paint your wife house then why would you want to live here ? They can have the place.

Exactly, but its only on TV.com that such stupid questions are asked, in the real world thousands of Expats paint, clean, garden etc of their abode with none ever being arrested.

[petertucker48]

Just don't make a profit by charging the Wife !!!!

[saakura]

You should wear a hood and paint it in the dead of the night. Start at midnight and be done before sunrise. Get a life!

[Pib]

I've been here over 7 years now on a retirement extension of stay. I have "personally" done so much major and minor work on the outside and inside of my house I must seem like a common laborer constantly working on my house to my neighbors and also real common laborers who do work in my moobaan. No one cares...in fact, they are amazed I can do my own hard work around the house and many generally seem enviousness I know how.

Just paint it...no one cares.

P.S. Be durn sure you have a sturdy ladder spec'ed for your weight....fiber glass ladders are strong but a little heavy....I've go a 24 ft fiberglass ladder I use around the house like when painting/fixing high areas on my two story house.

[BKResort]

After many years living here.....and reading this topic again and again here, I have to say that only a farang with enemies or showing off about, can have immigration problems doing work in its own house, car, garden, computer, or anything, if not getting paid for that inside the country. And...if it a simple job...get a kid, pay 300 bath for the day and rest while looking at his work. Good time for both of you!

[blackcab]

Come on guys, its against the law to drive a motorised vehicle or buffalo cart for a Farang. TIT.

No it's not.

[cooked]

Come on guys, its against the law to drive a motorised vehicle or buffalo cart for a Farang. TIT.

No it's not.

IS, is, is. It's a forbidden occupation and is still on the list.

http://www.thaivisa.com/330-0.html

Driving a mechanically propelled carrier or driving a non-mechanically propelled vehicle, excluding international aircraft piloting;

[KittenKong]

I've been here over 7 years now on a retirement extension of stay. I have "personally" done so much major and minor work on the outside and inside of my house I must seem like a common laborer constantly working on my house to my neighbors and also real common laborers who do work in my moobaan. No one cares...in fact, they are amazed I can do my own hard work around the house and many generally seem enviousness I know how.

Just paint it...no one cares.

Well, those real common labourers and local tradesmen may start caring one day. And if they decide to report you you could find yourself in a bad situation. I'm not saying that it will happen, just that it might.

In Thailand everything is fine and perfectly acceptable until someone decides to complain.

Personally I also always do my own plumbing and electrics and decorating and cleaning etc. in my condo (I'm competent, I have the time and I really need the exercise), but I have the advantage that once my front door is shut no one can possibly see what I'm doing or know what I'm doing. I would think twice about doing something similar in a house in a village, with Thai neighbours around.

Edited December 30, 2015 by KittenKong

[DavisH]

If you are living in your wife's house the neighbours would not think much about it, as they would consider it housework. I don't most know much about immigration law. Having said that, I'd be more wary about doing anything construed as "work that generates a wage", especially farming.

If indeed it was illegal, then cutting your grass, watering your plants and washing your clothes is also illegal. That's just BS. I'd be very surprised if any immigration officer had a problem with that. I'm quite visible in my garden and have also done a lot of painting around my / my wife's house. Maybe I should just pay her rent and she can cough up to pay for everything while I sit on my ass in front of TV all day

[Pib]

I could get hit in the head by a meteorite. I seriously doubt common laborers and local tradesmen have a clue about retirement visa/extensions even if they did care.

[GarryP]

You do not even register on most Thais' radar. They are not constantly thinking about the foreigner and what he is doing. The vast majority have no interest in you at all. They could not give a damn what you are doing to your house and those very few that do would not know who to report you to anyway. Get a life and stop believing these scaremongers who really know nothing about living in Thailand.

The only person that needs to beware is the bigoted foreigner who has teed off the locals around his home with his constant whinging and "better than though attitude". But then such person's comeuppance is likely to come in a much different form than a visit from Labor Department officers. And even then such instances are rarer than rocking horse manure.

[topt]

Come on guys, its against the law to drive a motorised vehicle or buffalo cart for a Farang. TIT.

No it's not.

IS, is, is. It's a forbidden occupation and is still on the list.

http://www.thaivisa.com/330-0.html

Driving a mechanically propelled carrier or driving a non-mechanically propelled vehicle, excluding international aircraft piloting;

Do you have a definition for a "mechanically propelled carrier"? That sounds very different to a motorised vehicle which is what you first posted..............